Star of the County Down

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Near Banbridge town, in the County Down

One morning in July


Down a pathway green came a sweet colleen

And she smiled as she passed me by.

Oh she looked so sweet from her two bare feet

To the sheen of her nut brown hair


Such a coaxing elf, sure I shook myself


To be sure I was really there.

Chorus:

And from Bantry Bay up to Derry Quay

And from Galway to Dublin town


No maid I’ve seen like the brown colleen

That I met in the County Down.

As she onward sped I shook my head

And I gazed with a feeling rare


And I said, says I, to a passerby
”Who’s the maid with the nut-brown hair?”

He smiled at me, and with pride says he, “She’s the gem of Ireland’s crown.

She’s young Rosie McCann from the banks of the Bann

She’s the star of the County Down.”

Chorus

I’ve travelled a bit, but never was hit

Since my roving career began.


But fair and square I surrendered there

To the charms of young Rosie McCann.

I’d a heart to let and no tenant yet

Did I meet with in shawl or gown


But in she went, and I asked no rent


From the star of the County Down.

Chorus

At the crossroads fair I’ll be surely there

And I’ll dress in my Sunday clothes


I’ll offer my arm and I will use my charm for the heart of the nut-brown rose.

No pipe I’ll smoke, no horse I’ll yoke


Though with rust my plow turns brown


Till a smiling bride by my own fireside


Sits the star of the County Down.

Chorus

Note: Colleen means young girl, it is Gaeilc or Old Irish, (spelled Cailin in Gaelic) Pathway in the original is the Gaelic word bóithrín, (pronounced boreen), a little road or path. The place names in the chorus mean across the four corners of Ireland, meaning that he did not find a girl as sweet in the whole country.

Star of the County Down: Public Domain, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_of_the_County_Down, ref: http:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzhE24WDjDA